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Guide to Working at Atlassian

Working at Atlassian

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Whether you’re still in school or have already made your mark in the workplace, chances are you’ve encountered one of Atlassian’s products — maybe Trello for project management or Confluence for your team or class workspace.

Atlassian is a software company that offers products to help teams organize and work together. Interesting in working at Atlassian? Learn about Atlassian jobs and salaries, benefits and perks, company culture, and more.

What Is Atlassian?

Atlassian is an Australian software company that creates products to help with development and collaboration. Solutions and products at Atlassian focus on three main categories: work management (Trello, Confluence), IT service management (Jira Service Management), and Agile and DevOps (Compass and Jira Software).

Started in 2002 by two college friends, Atlassian now has 7,000 employees (“Atlassians”) in 13 countries, more than 200,000 customers, over 5,000 apps, and four million community members. Eighty-three percent of Fortune 500 companies use Atlassian’s products, and the company reported more than $2 billion in revenue in 2021

With a mission to “help unleash the potential of every team,” Atlassian has global headquarters in Sydney, Australia and U.S. headquarters in San Francisco, California.

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Atlassian Careers and Salaries

Atlassian looks for employees who believe they can accomplish more working together with others than apart. The company divides its teams into two main categories, each of which houses several sub-teams:

The engineering, customer experience, sales, and product management teams in the United States often have numerous available positions. 

What do Atlassian jobs pay? The company provides base salary ranges within many job descriptions – broken down by geographic zones A, B, and C, with descending rates of pay from A to C. Using a data engineer job posting, this is what you’d stand to earn based on where you live:

  • Zone A: San Francisco Bay Area ($129,600 – $198,900)
  • Zone B: Boston, Los Angeles, New York Tri-State Area, Sacramento, San Diego, Seattle, Washington D.C. ($116,700 – $179,000)
  • Zone C: All other states and metropolitan areas ($107,600 – $165,100)

While the provided salary ranges are helpful information to have when job searching and negotiating salary, the ranges can be quite large (up to 100k), so they may not give a comprehensive picture of what you’re likely to earn. 

Looking for specific job and salary information? Below are some typical jobs and average salaries for various Atlassian careers.

Engineering Jobs at Atlassian

The engineering team works to create solutions for all its products. From building apps and crafting JavaScript to architecting cloud platforms, this team directly impacts the company’s millions of community members and customers.

On Glassdoor, this is the average reported base and total pay for specific engineering positions at Atlassian:

  • Software engineer: $135,000 base/$181,000 total
  • Senior software engineer: $145,300 base/$198,300 total
  • Software developer: $129,200 base/$169,900 total
  • Data engineer: $129,600 base/$172,700 total
  • Senior engineer: $139,200 base/$188,400 total

>>MORE: Guide to the Software Engineer Career Path

Product Management Jobs at Atlassian

Product managers at Atlassian use their understanding of customer needs to manage the development of the company’s products and features. The key pillars for this team are the ability to lead and inspire, excellent communication, driving tangible outcomes, and striving to excel in the craft.

Average base and total compensation for product management jobs, as reported to Glassdoor, are:

  • Associate product manager: $108,600 base/$137,800 total
  • Product manager: $147,400 base/$204,800 total
  • Senior product manager: $163,900 base/$235,100 total
  • Principal product manager: $171,000 base/$250,600 total

>>MORE: Learn about the product manager career path.

Student and New Grad Opportunities at Atlassian

Atlassian has opportunities for current students and new graduates on many of its teams. 

Interns

The internship program at Atlassian is a 12-week paid immersive program where interns work with cross-functional teams to solve real-world challenges. Students should be headed into their last year or semester of study following the internship and pursuing a full-time degree relevant to the internship team (e.g., computer science or software engineering degree for a software engineer intern).

Interns who complete the program will be considered for full-time roles at Atlassian after graduation. As with other positions at the company, interns’ hourly wages depend on their geographic location.

Graduates

Affectionately called “Gradlassians,” participants in the company’s graduate early-career program have the opportunity to take on paid, full-time roles directly following graduation. Open to soon-to-be graduates and entry-level candidates with less than one year of professional experience, it kicks off with the Chapter One program — two weeks of onboarding, collaborating, and training specific to grads.

The Associate Product Manager Program (APM) is a program for recent graduates with less than one year of work experience. APMs participate in two one-year rotations working with various product teams at Atlassian. APMs also attend an annual research trip, participate in a speaker series with tech leaders, and have access to learning and development opportunities.

Atlassian doesn’t require any specific degree or background for the APM. Instead, it looks for candidates with empathy and exceptional problem-solving skills. The APM also has options for summer internships.

>>MORE: Learn the skills you need to work in tech with Forage’s tech virtual experience programs.

Atlassian Benefits and Perks

If you’re looking for a remote job, one of the biggest perks of working at Atlassian is its progressive “distributed-first” working policy called TEAM Anywhere. This policy enables employees to choose whether to work in an office, remotely from home, or a combination of the two. The company prioritizes asynchronous communication and is a champion of flexible work.

Employees can work from any country where Atlassian maintains a legal business entity, so long as there’s an adequate timezone overlap with their team. And they can also choose to work for up to 90 days a year in an entirely different location.

>>MORE: The Best Small Cities for Remote Work

Other notable benefits at Atlassian include:

  • Health insurance, with 100% paid premiums for employees and dependents
  • Family formation support: assisted reproduction, fertility health, surrogacy, tissue preservation, etc.
  • 26 weeks of paid parental leave for birthing parents; 20 weeks for non-birthing parents
  • Financial planning advice
  • Unlimited PTO
  • 401(k) with a 4% company match
  • Anniversary awards, such as extra days off or personal trip reimbursement
  • Wellness, coaching, and therapy resources
  • Annual learning budget
  • Distributed working allowance
  • Flexible hours and work arrangements
  • Fitness reimbursement and fitness classes
  • Paid volunteer time
  • Neurodiverse family support

Not surprisingly, employees rate Atlassian’s benefits 90 out of 100 (A+) on Comparably. And 55% say their office perks are “fantastic.” On Glassdoor, current and former employees give 4.7 out of 5 stars for the company’s benefits, with many high scores and positive comments for unlimited PTO, parental leave, and fully paid health insurance.

Atlassian Culture

Atlassian’s five company values are its North Star in guiding and defining the overall company culture.

  1. Open company, no BS: Atlassian encourages employees to speak their minds while being thoughtful and caring.
  2. Build with heart and balance: It’s important to strike a balance between fully and carefully considering options with moving forward with passion and urgency.
  3. Don’t #@!% the customer: Always consider the customers’ perspective.
  4. Play, as a team: Teams need to put the team first, both at work and in play.
  5. Be the change you seek: Continuous improvement and taking action to spark change are essential.

On Comparably, employees rate the culture 81 out of 100, which is an “A” grade. The only scores that dip below are for diversity and office culture (B+) and professional development (C+). A whopping 90% of employees report being happy with their work-life balance, 86% look forward to daily interactions with their team, and 92% describe their work environment as positive.

A long list of awards speaks to Atlassian’s positive and supportive culture. These are just a few the company has earned in 2022 and 2023:

  • Glassdoor Best Places to Work in 2023
  • Built In U.S. Best Large Places to Work 2023
  • Fortune Best Workplaces for Women 2022
  • Fortune Best Workplaces for Millennials 2022
  • Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work for 2022
  • Great Place to Work Best Workplaces for Parents 2022

Atlassian is also a certified Great Place to Work, according to 98% of its employees. The company has high ratings across the board, with 98% of employees agreeing with the following:

  • I can take time off work when necessary
  • Management is honest and ethical
  • Facilities contribute to a good working environment
  • I feel good about our contributions to the community
  • The company makes new employees feel welcome

Initiatives

One of Atlassian’s initiatives is Pledge 1%, a pledge to divert 1% of the company’s equity, product, profit, and employee time to the Atlassian Foundation. As a result, the company has donated $54 million, volunteered more than 190,000 hours, and provided over 132,000 free or discounted product licenses to impact-driven organizations. The Foundation focuses its funds on key areas that include education, volunteering and giving, and impact investing.

Regarding sustainability, Atlassian has achieved 100% renewable electricity and aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040.

The company also launched its diversity, equity, and inclusion plan in 2022 with nine employee resource groups and increased hiring of Black, Latinx, and women employees in the U.S. As part of Atlassian’s DEI efforts, employees receive a stipend to purchase books from authors and sellers from historically marginalized groups. 

Curious if Atlassian would be a good culture fit for you? Take a comprehensive quiz to see how well you align with the company’s values.

Atlassian vs. Salesforce

One of Atlassian’s top competitors is Salesforce, another large cloud-based software company. So how does working at Atlassian compare to working at Salesforce? Here’s how current and former employees rate the companies on several metrics, according to Glassdoor:

Culture & ValuesDiversity & InclusionWork-Life BalanceCompensation & BenefitsCareer OppsRecommend to FriendPositive Business Outlook
Atlassian4.84.64.74.64.494%92%
Salesforce4.44.54.24.44.287%79%

On Comparably, Atlassian outscores Salesforce on overall culture, perks and benefits, compensation, team culture, diversity score, gender score, and environment. 

What’s the Atlassian Application Process Like?

The application process for interns and recent or upcoming graduates encompasses five main steps:

  1. Submitting your resume
  2. Completing an online assessment
  3. Participating in phone interviews with a recruiter and teams
  4. Completing final round interviews and craft assessments
  5. Getting an offer!

In the U.S., graduate and internship programs begin in June or July, so keep these dates in mind when planning your application.

>>MORE: Check out common interview questions and how to answer them.

Atlassian Interview Tips

Whether you’re still in school or have some work experience under your belt, preparing for your Atlassian interview can help you stand out from the crowd.

Atlassian primarily utilizes a virtual interview process that consists of an initial screening interview with a recruiter, followed by a virtual interview, where you’ll speak with the hiring manager and team members and watch a presentation on a “day in the life” at Atlassian. Throughout, you’ll be paired with a Candidate Experience (CX) coordinator to guide you through the process.

Looking for team-specific interview advice? Here’s how the interview process works for specific Atlassian teams.

Engineering Interviews

Atlassian is looking for candidates with broad engineering skills and experience in various programming languages. The interview process is focused on assessing problem-solving skills and learning agility with these steps:

  • Coding interview: This interview has two parts — data structures and code design. You get to choose the language you work in, and Atlassian provides sample prompts for front-end, back-end, full-stack, and site reliability engineer (SRE) roles.
  • Systems design interview: This 60-minute session is a technical interview during which you’ll answer structured questions that show how you would tackle technical problems.
  • Manager interview: This one-on-one interview helps the hiring manager understand who you are and your interests, along with your collaboration and communication styles. You’ll need to discuss a past project and how you resolved technical challenges.
  • Values interview: The values interview assesses how well you align with Atlassian’s five core values.

>>MORE: Can You Use ChatGPT to Prepare for Technical Interviews?

Product Interviews

The interview process for product managers at Atlassian involves assessing whether candidates have four attributes:

  1. Can lead and inspire: The company is looking for objective evidence of this, so talk about a time you led a team or believed in something no one else agreed with. School and volunteer experience are applicable!
  2. Seek product mastery: This involves an interactive “use case” session where you’ll work through a product problem with the interviewer. Focus on the process and show how you understand the problem and how you think.
  3. Are great communicators: Keep your answers concise and clear throughout the interview process.
  4. Can drive outcomes: As you discuss past projects, talk about results and outcomes, not just output.

As you go through the process, interviewers will give you a score (strong no, no, yes, strong yes) on each of the four expectations.

>>MORE: How to Use the STAR Method for Interview Questions

Design Interviews

The design interview process at Atlassian includes three steps:

  • Portfolio review: You’ll spend an hour going over past projects, whether writing (for content roles) or case studies (for research roles). Be ready to showcase your communication skills and go into detail about your work.
  • Squad interview: For roles that require significant cross-functional collaboration, you’ll meet with team members to discuss how you’d work together.
  • Values interview: The 45-minute values interview is a conversational, relaxed interview that gives you a chance to ask questions and explain how you think and work with others.

>>MORE: 15 Questions to Ask the Hiring Manager (and 5 to Skip)

On Glassdoor, past candidates rate the interview process at Atlassian a 3 out of 5 — average difficulty — and 47% report a negative interview experience (37% positive and 16% neutral). Most candidates who landed an interview applied online (62%), while 16% applied through a recruiter. 

Employees on Comparably rate the Atlassian interview process an A- and 94 out of 100 for the overall interview experience. Seventy-nine percent of employees feel the interview process is a good representation of company culture.

Takeaways

  • Atlassian is an Australian software company that creates collaboration and development products.
  • The company offers internships and opportunities for new graduates on several of its teams, including engineering and product management.
  • As a distributed-first company, Atlassian allows employees to work from anywhere the company maintains a legal business entity.
  • Atlassian gets high ratings for its extensive benefits package and company culture.
  • The interview process at Atlassian includes a values interview to see how well candidates align with the company’s five core values.

Explore what it’s like to work at other top companies with Forage’s company guides.

Image credit: MichaelVi / Depositphotos.com

Emily Courtney is an Assigning Editor at Forage. She has written and edited career and education-related content as an Editor for FabJob, Content Specialist for FlexJobs, and Content Editor for Thruline Marketing.